Police fear drag race killed man, 18

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Police are investigating whether a car involved in a fatal crash in Melbourne's south-east on Saturday had been drag racing moments before it hit a tree.

An 18-year-old man from Chelsea Heights was in the back seat of the car that slammed into a tree in Woodlands Drive, Braeside, just after 8pm.

The man was flown to The Alfred hospital but died soon afterwards. Two other injured people in the car were taken to the Monash Medical Centre. A fourth occupant was not hurt.

The collision happened along a section of road in Braeside's industrial precinct, which police say is notorious for drag racing.

A police spokesman said the car was travelling north along Woodlands Drive, towards Lower Dandenong Road, when the driver lost control.

The major collisions investigation unit is investigating the accident.

Mordialloc police said drag racing was a problem in the area. "The area where the accident happened is part of a number of areas of concern to us," said Sergeant William Manning. "At the moment this (drag racing) is something we've been looking into for some time and we're working in conjunction with the traffic management unit in Moorabbin to try and solve the issues."

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Two bunches of flowers were left at the site of the accident with a card addressed to "Kyle's family".

Lee and Shane, friends of the dead man, arrived at the scene yesterday and stood near the scarred tree for several minutes before slowly driving away.

The death was the second on Victoria's roads on Saturday, one of five over the weekend and the 129th for the year to date.

The latest death, that of a female motorcyclist who died after colliding with a car in Hoddle Street, Richmond, near the corner of Erin Street, occurred about 7.15pm yesterday.

Other deaths over the weekend included a man who died at 12.15am yesterday on the Mitiamo Road after he lost control of a truck that hit a tree near Echuca and a 19-year-old man from Piangil, near Swan Hill, who died about 5.30pm on Saturday at nearby Tyntynder.

A woman in her early 40s died in hospital, following a four-car pile-up outside the Lilydale Memorial Park on Springvale Road at 12.20pm.

The death of a Bayswater man in his 20s on a motocross track at Campbellfield on Saturday will not count towards the road toll.